Antarctic Journeys

Antarctica is a fascinating place - it has no native inhabitants, and it's very remote, which means everyone who goes there - today or in the past - has a special reason for wanting to go. It's a place that children can only imagine, because they cannot go there.

This book is about the journeys that centre around Antarctica, using that theme to build up an overall picture of Antarctic history, geography, science and wildlife. The incredibly challenging and at times fatal early expeditions are described and reveal the immense courage and perseverance needed to map and explore the region.

Image rich, using photographs, maps and paintings, it also draws on letters, diaries, newspaper and eye-witness reports from the days of early exploration, as well as later research and interviews. Other non-fictin features include biographies, maps, a timeline and glossary.

Ruth's Review:

Antarctica is a unique continent. It has no native inhabitants so everyone who goes there also leaves.

In this fascinating and informative new book, Werry presents the journeys undertaken by early explorers, the scientific expeditions and the many animals, including penguins, whales and even dogs to build up an overall picture of Antarctic history, geography, science and wildlife.

Highly illustrated with photos, paintings, diagrams and maps, the journeys described include those by Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Edmund Hillary’s “tractor” expedition, the first female marine geologist in 1956 and a variety of scientific expeditions observing wildlife, the weather, fossils, the sea ice...

Werry’s accounts of the first explorers’ expeditions are succinct but still convey the dangers and incredible hardship the men endured. Interviews with scientists and workers reveal what it’s like to live and work there now and quirky stories include Endurance carpenter Harry McNeish’s cat Mrs Chippy, off-course emperor penguin Happy Feet’s return in 2011, and the first ballet to be filmed on the ice last year.

A timeline, list of further reading and comprehensive index are included. This is a wonderful overview, attractively presented, that will captivate readers aged 8 to 13.

Product Information

Author description

Philippa is a children's writer with wide experience in writing fiction and non-fiction for both trade and educational purposes.She has books with New Holland that have been nominated in various book awards.

Philippa has written a number of informative books with New Holland: Anzac Day, Armistice Day, Waitangi Day, Best Mates and The New Zealand Wars. Antarctic Journeys joins the list.